Friday, July 6, 2018

100K sign to put Ohio Libertarians back on ballot

July 5, 2018 - "On Monday, Libertarians submitted almost 103,000 petition signatures to once again become an official 'minor party' in Ohio, according to Secretary of State Jon Husted's office.

"Husted's office is now checking to see whether at least 54,964 of those signatures are valid - the current threshold to become a minor party in the state. Under Ohio law, Libertarians also need 500 or more valid signatures from at least half of the state's 16 congressional districts.

"If they pass those requirements, the party plans to run a candidate for governor this November.... Libertarians also are looking to run candidates for secretary of state and other offices, said Scott Pettigrew, vice chair of the Libertarian Party of Ohio's central committee.

"If the party clinches state recognition, candidates would have until July 19 to submit petitions to run as a Libertarian (the filing deadline for independent and other parties' candidates has already passed). If there are multiple candidates for a single office, a five-member party committee (which includes Pettigrew) would decide which of them would appear on the 2018 general-election ballot as a Libertarian.

"If the Libertarians regain ballot access, the party's main goal will be to make sure their gubernatorial candidate gets at least 3 percent of the statewide vote in November. That's the threshold minor parties in Ohio need to reach to remain on the ballot in 2020....